Santa Rosa rolls past Texico, 46-7

TEXICO, N.M. - An interception, a punt return for a touchdown,another pick, another punt brought back all the way to paydirt.

It was a formula much to Santa Rosa's liking on Friday night in the New Mexico Class 2A football state championship game.

The Lions used that combination to get out to a huge first half lead and eventually cruise home with a 46-7 victory over the Texico Wolverines. For Santa Rosa, a town accustomed to football success, it was the first state title since 1998.

"We heard about it all the time. We had to end that drought, bring it back to Santa Rosa and take care of business," said Lions senior quarterback Jesus Roybal.

Texico (9-3) got the ball first but gave it up when Santa Rosa's Ricardo Roybal returned an interception to the Wolverines' 38. Seven plays later, Roybal scored from three yards and scored the first of his three touchdowns before intermission.

"They just controlled us," said Texico coach Mike Prokop. "We had opportunities, but we threw it to the wrong team and that's going to happen."